Another one bites the dust...

I'm always sad when old buildings get demolished. Especially old community buildings that have seen so much life and history in their time. And of course people have memories there. They can walk past an old building and have their memories triggered, thrusting them back into an earlier, sometimes, happier time when they had none of the worries and struggles that can come in later life.

So I am documenting the latest victim of progress in our village with a heavy heart - it is 200 years old and has a beautifully carved wooden front door which I would love to take to Erwin's to carve myself but I have no transport to do that. I hope it won't just become firewood. It's not just a door but a symbol -for so many people have passed through that door and experienced happiness and togetherness. When it first became empty I asked around to see if there was any chance of turning it into a new kind of community space but I was told the building had already been sold to developers for yet another apartment building - there is a glut of these taking place around our village right now.

I am also taking pictures of this event for a future art project. Many years ago when I took my A-Level art exam in the UK, for the final exam piece we could choose one from a series of questions to explore. I chose the question about chiaroscuro which used Pierre Bonnard as an example of pursuing a piece based on his work of showing light and shade. This suited me because I loved painting the human figure and loved to explore ways of painting light, in particular sunlight (I went on to get a great mark for this) but for a while I was torn between this question and another which asked for a final piece based on an exploration of demolition which threw up a whole host of possibilities, and an opportunity for a great abstract piece.

From time to time I have mulled this over and now it seems I have my muse to finally pursue this project. I have the dramatic images, the crane 'monsters' the authoritative yellow-clad workmen and of course the mist of dreams and feelings and lost memories to incorporate into a piece. So, I have a brand new artwork to focus on. Very exciting!